So I have been reading some builds and am wondering what type do most folks find the most fun to play and the most useful to groups?

I'm playing around with a halfling ranged build but traditional builds are appealing as well as maybe a str based Dwarf build.

What's your opinion?

Guanmagi-1

01-07-2014, 01:40 PM

I love rogues that die a lot and then go link dead. Those are my favorite.

knightgf

01-07-2014, 01:46 PM

So far, I like playing as a INT-based rogue mechanic. It's more fun than playing as an assassin or a acrobat, whatever that is...

Theolin

01-07-2014, 01:56 PM

Rouge'd

and .... NOT dead

CThruTheEgo

01-07-2014, 06:50 PM

I prefer the rogue in my sig.

I love rogues that die a lot and then go link dead. Those are my favorite.

LOL

Starla70

01-10-2014, 12:56 PM

I like the iconic rogue and a ranger/rogue mix. I have 2 of each, all built just a bit different to test things out. The new changes in the enhancements make them both effective in a party or solo.

bsquishwizzy

01-10-2014, 03:29 PM

Halfling Assassin.

Loads of stealth, decent trapping, nice kills. Great solo toon, and I’ve found that my stealth capabilities in PUGs are minimal. I usually stealth my way through every quest where possible.

The biggest issue is HP and EE. In order to get decent (but still laughable) HP, you have to gimp yourself in your DCs. I was getting badly mauled in EH content even when using stealth. So I took epic CON to bolster the toon. But that kills me in EH.

I wish they’d bring back Racial Toughness…

Adelair

01-11-2014, 01:46 PM

I've spent more time playing rogue than anything, and I've done it differently each time. Played the acrobat, the TWF assassin, and the mechanic with a repeater.

Human Mechanic with a Light/Heavy Repeater was by far the best experience. Towards the higher levels you go into the assassin tree and eventually take the deadly shadow capstone. Once you have the Lethality core ability and you're instakilling all the trash on sneak vorpals you'll be leading the kill count. Early on you'll have your UMD high enough to cast sleet storm scrolls, so you can stand just outside the storm and fire through it. Mobs have to cross it to reach you. They're slowed and blind.

Todkaninchen

01-13-2014, 12:39 PM

So I have been reading some builds and am wondering what type do most folks find the most fun to play and the most useful to groups?

I'm playing around with a halfling ranged build but traditional builds are appealing as well as maybe a str based Dwarf build.

What's your opinion?

I only play halflings and I haven't played any form of acrobat (yet).

My favorite kind are rogue mechs, usually with a 2-arti splash (level 2 for conjure bolts and level 8 for rune-arm imbue). High INT, High DEX, 14 CON, and enough STR to hit 10 with a +1 tome. Generally, my AC is crappy, but I build for skills and damage. So, as long as I can hit from long distances, or kite a little up close--the tanglefoot SLA is awesome for that--I can usually come out 1st or 2nd in kills, get all the traps, and have enough skill points for bluff, diplo, and even intim for social encounters, UMD to be able to (with Skill Focus UMD and gear) to reliably throw heal scolls and raise dead scrolls up high, and even sneak, jump, etc.

(The rune arm is only used for imbue or special effects like silver weapons and deathblock on Tira's Splendor.)

I liked my assassin too--same basic DEX/INT build, but with 2WF in lieu of ranged stuff--but rebuilt him from pure rogue assassin to rogue 18/arti 2 ranged build at level 22 when I got soooooo tired of trying to chase around enemies while sneaking (so I could assassinate them) while someone kited them. For soloing or small group running, he was nasty. Had a nice Jorgundahl's collar and was a DEX build before the upgrades that gave you DEX to damage on everything you could finesse or daggers/kukris. (Used mostly the few DEX/DEX weapons in the game already. Was even better after the enhancement pass. Easier to break DR.).

phillymiket

01-13-2014, 12:49 PM

3 favorite pure rogues:

1- assassin, 2- assassin, 3- assassin.

I prefer human with good strength and intelligence. Dex is usually set to minimum needed for GTWF.

There are a few things in DDO, like a successful mass hold or assassination, that simply provide me enjoyment beyond the value they contribute to completion.

It's just fun sneaking in and laying something out.

I'm sure mechanic is great, tried one once and it was cool, but I just really, really like assassinate. :-D

Todkaninchen

01-13-2014, 01:44 PM

I'm sure mechanic is great, tried one once and it was cool, but I just really, really like assassinate. :-D

Assassinate is awesome, but you have to have a group that either lets you do your thing and waits patiently or that doesn't mind you essentially piking for 15 sec at a time in combat... *grin*

I will probably run another assassin in the near future, but as mainly a solo effort.

Rogue mech though means I can get all the traps, kill all the things I can see, and most things die tired as they run in from hither and yon...

...or--in tight spaces--toss the Tanglefoot, the Thunderstone, and the Ooze Flask (all AOE damage), and finish off who's left with the bow.

The big difference is not having to get into "cuddle" distance like an assassin and still doing big, nasty, wall of damage numbers. *Grin*

I do admit, I do tend to run with things like Windhowler bracers, a Quiver of Poison, throw Force Damage eldritch rituals on things, make damage/damage/damage GS bows (triple positive on non-neutrals is awesome damage), and use deception/improved deception items. Doublecross bow is also awesome, of course... (And Slaver's Hand Crossbow at level).

Oh, and Wounding of Puncturing/Virulent Constitution Poison bows are also really fun on mechs...

CThruTheEgo

01-14-2014, 06:21 AM

Assassinate is awesome, but you have to have a group that either lets you do your thing and waits patiently or that doesn't mind you essentially piking for 15 sec at a time in combat...

This sounds like a playstyle issue tbh. What difficulty are you talking about? For EN/EH you shouldn't need the boost to your DCs from measure the foe. On EE it helps with higher fort save mobs but even without it you should be able to easily assassinate low fort mobs consistently. You can go into sneak before a battle to build up your DC and hit a high fort mob first, then move onto the lower fort mobs while in the middle of combat once assassinate is off timer again. The group shouldn't have to wait on you at all.

As far as chasing mobs, either pick targets that are stationary or get in the pathway of an oncoming mob and assassinate when they get to you (adjusting for DDOs inherent lag of course).

Dexraven

01-14-2014, 06:42 AM

I had a dwarf strength based kukri rogue assassin before the enh pass and loved it, he's going back to that once he hits cap,

Dwarfs just look funny when they sneak :)

WilliamBraveheart

01-14-2014, 10:16 AM

my favorite is the dex based rogue/monk stick build

Todkaninchen

01-14-2014, 10:56 AM

This sounds like a playstyle issue tbh. What difficulty are you talking about? For EN/EH you shouldn't need the boost to your DCs from measure the foe. On EE it helps with higher fort save mobs but even without it you should be able to easily assassinate low fort mobs consistently. You can go into sneak before a battle to build up your DC and hit a high fort mob first, then move onto the lower fort mobs while in the middle of combat once assassinate is off timer again. The group shouldn't have to wait on you at all.

As far as chasing mobs, either pick targets that are stationary or get in the pathway of an oncoming mob and assassinate when they get to you (adjusting for DDOs inherent lag of course).

Remind me again on what the cool down on Assassinate is?

They didn't change it, did they?

I mean, you could assassinate someone, melee them while it's on cool-down, then try to bluff, stealth, and assassinate again, but--in most content--you kill more targets faster with an insta-kill assassination than to mix them.

I mean, unless you've got cleave in there and enough deception items...

If they did cut the cool down on assassinate, that's nice though.

CThruTheEgo

01-14-2014, 11:37 AM

Remind me again on what the cool down on Assassinate is?

They didn't change it, did they?

I mean, you could assassinate someone, melee them while it's on cool-down, then try to bluff, stealth, and assassinate again, but--in most content--you kill more targets faster with an insta-kill assassination than to mix them.

I mean, unless you've got cleave in there and enough deception items...

If they did cut the cool down on assassinate, that's nice though.

Of course it's faster to instakill a mob than to melee it. But you're not going to instakill every mob in a quest. And if you're just waiting on a cooldown while the group is hacking away, you're wasting time.

Here is what I do: assassinate, join the group beatdown, and when assassinate goes off timer you assassinate a different mob than the one the group is beating on. That way you're maximizing your contribution to the group through both assassinating and straight dps.

If a group is good, then you all will be going after the same target. And as a rogue you should let someone else get agro first before you join the melee. So you shouldn't have to worry about shedding agro when you back out of the melee to go assassinate again.

It works quite well for my playstyle.

Todkaninchen

01-15-2014, 01:25 PM

Of course it's faster to instakill a mob than to melee it. But you're not going to instakill every mob in a quest. And if you're just waiting on a cooldown while the group is hacking away, you're wasting time.

Here is what I do: assassinate, join the group beatdown, and when assassinate goes off timer you assassinate a different mob than the one the group is beating on. That way you're maximizing your contribution to the group through both assassinating and straight dps.

If a group is good, then you all will be going after the same target. And as a rogue you should let someone else get agro first before you join the melee. So you shouldn't have to worry about shedding agro when you back out of the melee to go assassinate again.

It works quite well for my playstyle.

Good points, except, depending on the group and the level of content, it's often faster on kills to assassinate one, wait 15 sec (while moving to the next target) and assassinating the next, even while the others are beating on one thing. Especially if you risk taking aggro and damage otherwise.

(Assuming it's "assassinatable" and it would take more than 15 seconds for you to melee down.)

But, yeah, it's playstyle.

Personally, on mechanics and assassins, I tend to concentrate on enemy healers, casters, and ranged classes first before joining the rest on the melees or red-names.

With a mechanic, those targets are often "easier picking" with lower HP and saves, but with extended ranges, I can take them (and their crowd control/debuffs) out before they have too much of a negative impact on the party, plus--if they do aggro on me--evasion and good saves mean I'm better protected against effects than the others. Likewise, by fighting ranged a little ways away from the others, if I do get targeted by enemy casters, the AOE's don't splash the rest of the party often, but I'm close enough to friendly healers to get good heals.

With an assassin, I usually do the same targets, both because their effects on the party, their (typically) lower fort saves, and the fact most healers, casters, and ranged enemies have AI's that don't move as much or as fast as melee enemies...

Aerendil

01-15-2014, 02:52 PM

Assassin has always been my favourite due to playstyle, but I've recently debated trying out the Rog/Mnk/Dru acrobat setup. Not sure which is better for a mostly solo player - it would seem both have their pros and cons.
Assassinate is super fun when used correctly, but I'd imagine so is an acrobat with LD in earth stance getting 600dmg crits ;)

I play a Bladeforged 10 rogue 4 paladin 6 monk acrobat, with sireth and master blitz is excelent dps, plus very high defenses .
And a Halfling 12 Rogue 6 Ranger 2 Artificer, Mechanic with Slaying arrows (it works on crossbow) and fury of the wild, i play it like if it was an archer.

wildbynature

01-16-2014, 01:50 PM

I play a build called a sneaky freak:

16 rogue 2 monk 2 pally

twf short-sword build, dex to hit/dmg, high cha for saves, and high int

Todkaninchen

01-16-2014, 02:06 PM

I play a Bladeforged 10 rogue 4 paladin 6 monk acrobat, with sireth and master blitz is excelent dps, plus very high defenses .
And a Halfling 12 Rogue 6 Ranger 2 Artificer, Mechanic with Slaying arrows (it works on crossbow) and fury of the wild, i play it like if it was an archer.

Wait...

Really?

Slaying arrows work on crossbows? Anyone verify this for me?

I'm about to TR a characters into a Rogue 6/Ranger 14 and I was mainly thinking of great crossbow in the mechanic and Deepwood stalker trees. If half the AA imbues work, I may have to try some of that...

unbongwah

01-16-2014, 04:31 PM

Slaying arrows work on crossbows? Anyone verify this for me?
AFAIK, Inferno Shot and Slaying Arrows work with all ranged & thrown weapons; however the imbues only work w/arrows while Moonbow & Soul Magic only work w/short-/longbows. So you have to take an awful lot of filler if you want to add Slaying Arrows to an xbow or thrower build. :( Buuuut...

I'm about to TR a characters into a Rogue 6/Ranger 14 and I was mainly thinking of great crossbow in the mechanic and Deepwood stalker trees
...if you plan to do something like this, you could in theory do a char who alternates between TWF, bows w/Manyshot, and xbows; the imbues would boost your MS DPS and you'd be able to cycle Inferno / Slaying into all of your ranged atks, presuming you have the SPs for it.

My assassin is an int based dagger using halfling build with a couple of rogue past lives. Great for the close up kill.

My mech/arti build in an int based repeater build with several past lives and working on more. With this one I kill them before they know I am there.

Phoenix-daBard

01-16-2014, 04:46 PM

Slaying arrows work on crossbows? Anyone verify this for me?

I'm about to TR a characters into a Rogue 6/Ranger 14 and I was mainly thinking of great crossbow in the mechanic and Deepwood stalker trees. If half the AA imbues work, I may have to try some of that...

Well you probably won't have long to try it depending on when the next update comes out. It is a bug that the AA imbues are sticking around after switching to a crossbow.

kamimitsu

01-16-2014, 07:10 PM

Assassin has always been my favourite due to playstyle, but I've recently debated trying out the Rog/Mnk/Dru acrobat setup. Not sure which is better for a mostly solo player - it would seem both have their pros and cons.
Assassinate is super fun when used correctly, but I'd imagine so is an acrobat with LD in earth stance getting 600dmg crits ;)

When I got my +20 Heart of Wood, I respecc'd my Half-Orc stick build. I wanted to go Monk w/ Dex, but since he wasn't lawful, and since Half-Orc is more STR oriented, I went with 15 Rog Acrobat / 4 Fighter Kensai / 1 Druid. The crits are insanity, particularly once I got the Stout Oak Walking Stick (crazy base damage rating with Shillelagh, like 34 I think). I routinely see 700-800, and have seen over 1000. It's pretty fun... but still not as much as my Halfling Dex Assassin.

I wanted to try Power Attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave with my Rogue, so needed a Fighter multi-class. Couldn't get more sneak attack unless also went Monk. 3 Monk levels seemed to be the sweet spot that provided more bang for the buck than additional Fighter or Rogue levels.

serthcore

01-17-2014, 12:03 PM

Wait...

Really?

Slaying arrows work on crossbows? Anyone verify this for me?

I'm about to TR a characters into a Rogue 6/Ranger 14 and I was mainly thinking of great crossbow in the mechanic and Deepwood stalker trees. If half the AA imbues work, I may have to try some of that...

Yup, Slaying arrows and the "shots" work on xbow, in all 3 bolts, but the imbues don't. So its like wasting 15ish AP's on fillers, but its fun for me anyway.

brian14

01-17-2014, 12:32 PM

Early in my DDO career I tried rogue/wizard, and gave up quickly. Too complicated for a newbie.

Later I tried a dual-khopesh-wielding mechanic with wizard dilettante, and it was a disaster. Added two fighter levels, and was not much better. At level 17 gave up, and used the free LR +20 heart to redo her into something completely different.

I wanted rogue past life on my main ranger, and ran that particular life as Rog 8/Rgr 6/Clr 6. Was actually fun to play, but clearly non-viable past level 20.

Just few weeks ago I started a pure DEX-based Acrobat, paladin dilettante, and so far I am enjoying him more than any previous rogue. At the moment he is level 9.

bsquishwizzy

01-17-2014, 12:47 PM

Early in my DDO career I tried rogue/wizard, and gave up quickly. Too complicated for a newbie.

Later I tried a dual-khopesh-wielding mechanic with wizard dilettante, and it was a disaster. Added two fighter levels, and was not much better. At level 17 gave up, and used the free LR +20 heart to redo her into something completely different.

I wanted rogue past life on my main ranger, and ran that particular life as Rog 8/Rgr 6/Clr 6. Was actually fun to play, but clearly non-viable past level 20.

Just few weeks ago I started a pure DEX-based Acrobat, paladin dilettante, and so far I am enjoying him more than any previous rogue. At the moment he is level 9.

I've found that pre-Enhacement Pass DEX-based was "meh" for rogues. Post-Enhancement Pass, there is almost no reason to go DEX-based and/or Finesse. I'm sure there are a few cases for STR-based, but with the expansion of DEX-to-damage in the PrEs, and the synergy of DEX with rogues in general, going STR-based not only stretches you thin in other nice areas, but leaves those PrE capabilities lying on the floor.

Gizeh

01-17-2014, 01:36 PM

Of course it's faster to instakill a mob than to melee it. But you're not going to instakill every mob in a quest. And if you're just waiting on a cooldown while the group is hacking away, you're wasting time.

Here is what I do: assassinate, join the group beatdown, and when assassinate goes off timer you assassinate a different mob than the one the group is beating on. That way you're maximizing your contribution to the group through both assassinating and straight dps.

If a group is good, then you all will be going after the same target. And as a rogue you should let someone else get agro first before you join the melee. So you shouldn't have to worry about shedding agro when you back out of the melee to go assassinate again.

It works quite well for my playstyle.

This is exactly how I play my rogue as well. :)

To answer the OP: So far I've had best results with an Int/Dex based halfling pure rogue assassin, Shadowdancer ED at 20+ for maximum SA dice (30d6 with Improved SA). I took some ponts in the mech tree as well, mostly for wand and scroll mastery, but also to get light repeater proficiency so that I can range when necessary. Traps are no problem either, but I guess that epplies to every rogue with access to decent gear.

Aerendil

01-17-2014, 01:42 PM

I've found that pre-Enhacement Pass DEX-based was "meh" for rogues. Post-Enhancement Pass, there is almost no reason to go DEX-based and/or Finesse. I'm sure there are a few cases for STR-based, but with the expansion of DEX-to-damage in the PrEs, and the synergy of DEX with rogues in general, going STR-based not only stretches you thin in other nice areas, but leaves those PrE capabilities lying on the floor.

I think you mean no reason *not* to go dex-based. Which I disagree with :)
There's *less* reason to go Str-based these days, as Dex-based has almost caught up - but there are still more buffs available for Str than there are Dex (i.e. Rage, Primal Scream). Str also opens up Cleave, GC, and OC - all of which have amazing synergy with an Acrobat.

So to each their own. Dex certainly isn't far behind, but IMO Str still outperforms it aside from Reflex saves.

Todkaninchen

01-18-2014, 03:28 PM

Thanks for the heads up on slaying arrows.

I'll have to look at those, but probably won't end up spending the AP for them. My build will mainly be INT/DEX with INT to damage on Xbows and not much STR at all, so... using a standard bow... Not that useful.

Shadow_Jumper

01-29-2014, 07:06 PM

Halfling Assassin.

Loads of stealth, decent trapping, nice kills. Great solo toon, and I’ve found that my stealth capabilities in PUGs are minimal. I usually stealth my way through every quest where possible.

The biggest issue is HP and EE. In order to get decent (but still laughable) HP, you have to gimp yourself in your DCs. I was getting badly mauled in EH content even when using stealth. So I took epic CON to bolster the toon. But that kills me in EH.

I wish they’d bring back Racial Toughness…

I've done fairly well with my Halfling rogue assassin, while the HP is not great, its still around 710 base, and with the dodge/incorp of assassins it is not too much of a problem :D

I wanted to try Power Attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave with my Rogue, so needed a Fighter multi-class. Couldn't get more sneak attack unless also went Monk. 3 Monk levels seemed to be the sweet spot that provided more bang for the buck than additional Fighter or Rogue levels.

"
Monks get a stacking bonus to their AC:
Centered bonus at levels 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20 (3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 AC) unarmored, wielding ki weapons and not encumbered.
A passive Wisdom bonus equal to their Wisdom modifier, while unarmored and not using a shield."

katz

01-30-2014, 06:44 AM

i've played all 3... altho i havn't played mechanic since the enhancement pass...they seem a bit more powerful now..

that being said... i can't quite decide which was more fun... the 13 rogue 7 monk assassin/spy, or the 13 rogue 6 monk 1 druid acrobat/spy

cleave cleave cleaving my way thru quests with a deception item and stout oak walking stick is definitely fun with the acrobat... and the assassin was positively delicious... he had stunning fist... you get sneak attack on stunned mobs.. plus helpless damage... *drool* was so much fun he rarely actually assassinated... even tho he had the DC for it.

also... personal opinion here... if yer assassinating every 15 seconds, and not doing anything else but standing around in hiding waiting on the cooldown... yer doin it wrong.

Todkaninchen

01-30-2014, 07:24 PM

i've played all 3... altho i havn't played mechanic since the enhancement pass...they seem a bit more powerful now..

that being said... i can't quite decide which was more fun... the 13 rogue 7 monk assassin/spy, or the 13 rogue 6 monk 1 druid acrobat/spy

cleave cleave cleaving my way thru quests with a deception item and stout oak walking stick is definitely fun with the acrobat... and the assassin was positively delicious... he had stunning fist... you get sneak attack on stunned mobs.. plus helpless damage... *drool* was so much fun he rarely actually assassinated... even tho he had the DC for it.

also... personal opinion here... if yer assassinating every 15 seconds, and not doing anything else but standing around in hiding waiting on the cooldown... yer doin it wrong.

I tried that, but--usually--had too many ranged party members along so I ended up LR +20'ing my pure assassin to a rogue mech/arti.

However, had a guildy that was a master at it and would--routinely--lead kill counts by doing exactly that. Assassinate, move to new enemy during cool down, assassinate, move to new enemy during cool down... and never leave stealth.

Personally, I thought he was a bit autistic about it, concentrating only on the One True Way to be an assassin, even at the expense of helping the rest of the party on anything other than kills, but did the killing better.

Human 17 Rogue 2 Fighter 1 Monk, solely built to maximize stunning fists dc's and helpless dps. Makes for an odd situation, because you end up not having all that much strength which moreover means you're relying on the speed of your attacks. Therefore, the actual max dps stance for the build is Wind.

So Human, with at least 1 level of fighter for haste boosts and extra action boosts, probably an acrobat/assassin mix, and potentially dual wielding Agony if not speccing out totally for Sireth.

Interesting setup I saw was that because cleaves don't give glancing blows, you can do a full dex setup and take all the twf feats alongside all the thf feats, then just autoattack. Seems to do quite a lot of damage that way. In fact, I'm wondering just how much damage autoattacking with Sireth and all the acrobat bonuses gives compared to a traditional TWF setup.

Unfoundtruth

02-03-2014, 05:23 PM

I am currently playing a Pure INT based Mechanic Rogue that also has Assassinate which is at a 62 DC atm with no Midnight Greetings.So Assassinate and then step back with a repeater =)

Bunker

02-03-2014, 10:05 PM

Light, Heavy, .........heck even the occasional GreatXbow+fusillade combo and I'm in. Rogues and Repeaters were just meant to be together.

I've been a Rogue Repeater User since Mod 1.0 / April '06 and I approve till this day.

-Bunk

ReaperAlexEU

02-04-2014, 05:43 PM

mechanic with assassinate here too, 61 DC without EMG or ship buff.

i love the mix of short ranged pewpew with sneaking about and assassinating. i very rarely open up at long range because i want those sneak attack dice on my side

since the enhancement revamp i'm technically more assassin than mechanic having 43 in assassin tree and 28 in mechanic. i went as far as getting both repeaters and INT to dmg in mechanic then poured the bulk into assassin for the insta kill and the sneak attack dice. took the assassin cap stone too which was the old cap stone i had before the revamp.

I wanted to try Power Attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave with my Rogue, so needed a Fighter multi-class. Couldn't get more sneak attack unless also went Monk. 3 Monk levels seemed to be the sweet spot that provided more bang for the buck than additional Fighter or Rogue levels.

"
Monks get a stacking bonus to their AC:
Centered bonus at levels 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20 (3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 AC) unarmored, wielding ki weapons and not encumbered.
A passive Wisdom bonus equal to their Wisdom modifier, while unarmored and not using a shield."

Yes, that's the Monk AC bonus. Actually, two bonuses. One if centered, another if unarmored and not using a shield. Only the passive Wisdom modifier when using rapiers. But, looking for a Shard to complete an EMG. That with Celestia is centered.